Hartford Financial Fourth-quarter Core Earnings Rise 12%

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. said late Monday its core earnings for the fourth quarter rose 12% on improved property and casualty underwriting results. Hartford reported fourth-quarter core earnings of $426 million, or 96 cents a share, up from $382 million, or 79 cents, in the year-ago period. Total revenue declined to $4.62 billion from $4.78 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings of 93 cents on revenue of $4.4 billion.